For certain kinds of events, such as college and professional basketball, hockey, and baseball, season ticket holders purchase their tickets in advance of the season. Many of these ticket holders do not attend all games, but buy the season tickets nevertheless. For the unused tickets, the ticket holder typically absorbs the cost of those tickets. This practice obviously results in money lost for the ticket holder. Additionally, this practice denies others the opportunity to enjoy the sporting events because the seats are left unfilled by others who would like to attend the event. For the various teams who are playing in the event, they are denied the support of fans, and the home teams and stadium owners are often embarrassed by an abundance of empty seats.
There are a variety of ways in existence to deal with this problem, some legal, some not. For example, the ticket holder can stand outside the stadium some time before the game and attempt to sell their unused tickets to fans who would like to attend the game. This technique, however, necessitates that the ticket holder actually show up outside the stadium, thereby spending valuable time and energy in an endeavor that may bear little fruit.
Another known way of dealing with the problem of unused tickets is to give the tickets to another individual, commonly referred to as a scalper who then stands outside the stadium prior to the game in an effort to sell the ticket, typically at a substantially marked-up price. This method has several drawbacks, not the least of which is the fact that this practice is illegal in many jurisdictions and can result in jail time for the ticket holder. Unlawfulness aside, the scalper will typically charge a commission, thereby resulting in some kind of transaction cost to the ticket holder.
In light of the above discussion, it would be advantageous to develop a system that would reduce the monetary loss to the ticket holder and minimize efforts needed for the ticket holder to recoup the ticket's cost.